Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Elusive DX on 15m

I checked the JT9 operating frequencies and downloaded a new version of the programmer but I was still seeing the same old calls so I switched to PSK31. 15m seemed quite lively. There were a few JA's, a couple of stations from China and one from South Korea. Later on I heard a sation in Indonesia. But could I work any of them? Could I heck.

I did manage to make a couple of far eastern contacts: Alexander RD9OA from near Novosibirsk, and Lee BG6CJR from Ningguo in China, but I failed to make any impression on the others. All I got was a couple of QRZs then they called CQ again. Together with the antics of some of the Russian operators - sending their calls over and over and over again so the DX had no chance of hearing anyone else call - it got a bit frustrating. I was running 40W but it didn't seem to be enough to reach stations I was getting solid copy on. If I didn't have to go stealth I think I'd be seriously considering a KPA500 at this point! It must be nice to flip a switch and blast over the top!

Some of the Russians seemed to be in a rush. One actually sent PSE SHRT K to me as if trying to have a friendly QSO would keep him from something more important. DX seems to bring out the worst in many operators. Sheesh, it's only a hobby.